In early 2013, Fu Ping published her autobiography Bend, Not Break, coauthored with Meimei Fox. The book, along with her media interviews, has been found to contain many exaggerations, distortions, and fabrications. Fu Ping has responded by claiming to be a victim of a "smear campaign" of ulterior motives.

This blog documents the facts, questions, and falsehoods behind her book and words.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Questionable Fact: Fu Ping's Close Encounter with Sylvester Stallone

The Original Story:
On Pages 60-61 of Bend, Not Break, Fu Ping told a story when she was waitressing at a newly opened Chinese restaurant in Santa Fe a year after her arrival in the US:

Santa Fe was an artistic city, and many Hollywood stars had second homes there. Linda Evans, John Wayne, and Miles Davis all came to our restaurant. I didn't know who any of these people were so my boss often assigned me to wait on them, knowing that I wouldn't get starstruck or ask for autographs.

One night, a large, muscular man with dark hair and an asymmetrical face came into our restaurant. The boss told me to serve him.

I approached the table. "What would you like to drink?" I asked.

The man said nothing, but startled me by reaching around and grabbing my rear end with his enormous right hand. Without hesitating for a second, I slapped him on the cheek, hard. Then I gasped. What had I done? Surely the boss would fire me for such insolent behavior.

The man sat quietly for a heartbeat, staring me straight in the eyes. Then he laughed and said, "Do it again."

I raced back to the kitchen, still convinced, with my Chinese mentality, that I would lose my job. But everyone who had witnessed the event was cheering. "Ping, you slapped Rambo!" they squealed in delight. Even the boss, who had followed me to the back room, was chuckling. The customer, they told me, was Sylvester Stallone, a famous action hero.

The Debunking:
Obviously, John Wayne, who had passed away in 1979, cannot come to this restaurant that opened in the mid-1980s. The name-dropping might just be another typo by the author(s).

As for the rest of the story with Sylvester Stallone, we don't have any information either to confirm or deny it. So, it's up to the readers to decide.